DIWAKAR CHETTRI
Nepal’s present rulers are pushing the country into a state of statelessness so systematically that it almost seems deliberate. It is now coming up to nine months that a caretaker government is being led by a lameduck
prime minister . We haven’t had a parliament since May, and no sign that there will be
elections any time soon. The Supreme Court is being depleted of justices, the Election Commission is commissioner-less, as are the corruption watchdog and other constitutional bodies.
The president could break the logjam, but his role is ceremonial and the use of residual powers is restricted by an
interim constitution that has no precedence for this kind of checkmate. The bureaucracy and police are demoralised by political intervention, and the resulting impunity has set off a crime wave, especially in the Tarai .
No breakthrough is expected till the Maoist Convention ends in Hetauda next month, where Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is expected to make his push for leadership of the party and government. Other leaders seem to be veering towards the nomination of a ‘Third Person’ from a smaller party to lead an all-party election government.
But the prolonged uncertainty has already taken its toll on investment, development, and economic growth. In the absence of elections, Nepalis are voting with their feet: 1,600 of them fly out of Kathmandu airport every day to work abroad.
Internationally, we have become a human rights pariah, known as a country that is ruled by war criminals who have pardoned themselves. We also risk becoming a financial pariah unless the government sends the president a bill ratifying by ordinance an anti-money laundering law.
Nepal narrowly escaped being
blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) by endorsing the Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition Treaty through ordinances in June. The third bill on Anti-Organised Crime Act was not passed because of political pressure from the Maoists and their Madhesi coalition partners, who fear travel bans for their ill-gotten wealth. The draft bill also got snared in politics as the opposition put pressure on the president not to pass ordinances.
Nepal was put on FAFT’s ‘grey list’, but this will again come under review at a plenary meeting in Paris in February. Unless the Finance Minister takes urgent steps to endorse bills on anti-terrorism and organised crime, amendments to the act on anti-money laundering and automation of the Financial Information Unit (FIU) at the Nepal Rastra Bank to ensure transparency and exchange, Nepal risks being declared a rogue state.
For a country so dependent on tourism, migrant labour, exports and foreign investment, this would be catastrophic. It will put our international trade and reputation at risk and Nepalis living abroad will be under stricter surveillance and scrutiny. Nepal risks being permanently blacklisted from all international financial transactions, and join the ranks of outcast states like North Korea and Iran.
International banks could block the accounts of Nepali diplomatic missions, just like Citibank which has closed the accounts of Nepali missions in Washington and New York. Foreign donors could impose more stringent conditions for aid and grants once the country is blacklisted.
Politicians the world over have short-term time horizons and are notoriously selfish, but only in Nepal are they so unmindful of their own self-interest.